The current Miss Universe pageant was founded in 1952 by Pacific Knitting Mills, a California-based clothing company and manufacturer of Catalina Swimwear. The company was the sponsor of the Miss America pageant until 1951, when the winner, Yolande Betbeze, refused to pose for publicity pictures wearing one of their swimsuits. In 1952, Pacific Knitting Mills organized the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, co-sponsoring them for decades to follow.

The first Miss Universe Pageant was held in Long Beach, California in 1952. It was won by Armi Kuusela from Finland, who gave up her title, though not officially, to get married, shortly before her year was completed.[5] Until 1958, the Miss Universe title, like that of Miss America, was dated by the year following the contest, so at the time Ms. Kuusela's title was Miss Universe 1953.

Since its founding by Pacific Mills, the pageant has been organized and conducted by the Miss Universe Organization. Eventually Pacific Mills and its subsidiaries were acquired by the Kayser-Roth Corporation, which was in turn acquired by Gulf and Western Industries.

Donald Trump bought the pageant in 1996 from ITT Corp.[6] Trump struck a broadcasting arrangement with CBS until 2002, in 20. In 1998, Miss Universe, Inc. changed its name to Miss Universe Organization, and moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to New York City.[7][8] In late 2002 Trump entered into a joint venture with NBC,[1][9] which in 2003 outbid the other markets for the TV rights.[10] From 2003 to 2014, the pageant was broadcast in the United States on NBC.

In June 2015, NBC cancelled all business relationships with Trump and the Miss Universe Organization, in response to controversial statements about illegal immigrants who crossed the border from Mexico.[11][12] As part of the legal settlement, in September 2015, Trump bought out NBC's 50% stake in the company making him the company's sole owner. Three days later he sold the whole company to WME/IMG.[13][14] Following the change of ownership, in October 2015, Fox and Azteca became the official broadcasters of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants.[15] The current president of the Miss Universe Organization is Paula Shugart, who has held this position since 1998.[16]

For a country to participate in the Miss Universe, a local company or a person should buy the local rights of the competition, through a franchise fee, which involves the rights of image, brand and everything related to the pageant. Often, the owner of this franchise for contractual breaches or financial reasons, returns the franchise to the Miss Universe Organization, which resells it to a new stakeholder. Something that is recurrently common in the history of the event. The number of candidates in the contest is inconstant, precisely, because of the question of the franchisees. In addition, there are problems related to the calendar of the pageant. For example, in Miss Universe 2016 were 80 candidates, the following year, the number jumped to 92.

Usually a country's candidate selection involves pageants in your local subdivisions, whose winners compete in a national pageant, but there are some exceptions. For example, from 2000 to 2004, Australian delegates were chosen by a modelling agency. Although such "castings" are generally discouraged by the Miss Universe Organization, Jennifer Hawkins was chosen to represent the country in Miss Universe in 2004 (where she would eventually win the crown). When Australia resumed its national pageant in the later year, Michelle Guy became Miss Universe Australia 2005.

There have also been efforts to revive strong national pageants in, South Africa, Canada, Spain, Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America. The organization makes continual efforts to expand the pageant, but the participation of some countries such as Algeria and has proven difficult due to cultural barriers to the swimsuit competition, while others such as Armenia and Mozambique have balked at sending representatives due to the cost.

As of 2016, only three countries have been present at every Miss Universe since its inception in 1952: Canada, France, Germany (actually West Germany until 1990, when East and West reunified). Many European countries allow 17-year-old contestants to compete in their pageants, while Miss Universe's minimum age is 18, so national titleholders often have to be replaced by their runners-up or another candidate. Beginning in 2012, transgender women were allowed to compete, as long as they win their national pageants.[17] Since its inception, Miss Universe strictly prohibits age fabrication.

Some of the most successful national countries in the last decade have been Venezuela, the United States, France, the Philippines, and Colombia which command consistently high interest and television ratings in their respective countries. The live broadcasts of the Miss Universe pageant (regardless of the hosting nation) proved highly popular particularly in the Americas and Asia in recent years.[18]

The main Miss Universe Pageant is held over a two-week period in December. In the 1970s through the 1990s, the pageant was a month long. This allowed time for rehearsals, appearances, and the preliminary competition, with the winner being crowned by the previous year's titleholder during the final competition.

According to the organizers, the Miss Universe contest is more than a beauty pageant: women aspiring to become Miss Universe must be intelligent, well-mannered, and cultured[need quotation to verify]. Often a candidate has lost because she did not have a good answer during the question responses rounds; although this section of competition has held less importance during recent pageants than it did in the twentieth century. Delegates also participate in swimsuit and evening gown competitions.

Currently, the final placement of the finalists is determined by a ranked vote, where each judge ranks each of the final three/five candidates, with the contestant posting the lowest cumulative score (thus often, but not necessarily always, the contestant with the most number one votes) becoming the winner. If there is a tie, the higher semifinal scores become decisive.

The winner is assigned a one-year contract with the Miss Universe Organization, going overseas to spread messages about the control of diseases, peace, and public awareness of AIDS. Aside from the job, the winner also receives a cash allowance for her entire reign, a New York Film Academy scholarship, a modelling portfolio, beauty products, clothes, shoes, as well as styling, healthcare, and fitness services by different sponsors of the pageant. She also gains exclusive access to events such as fashion shows and opening galas, as well as access to casting calls and modelling opportunities throughout New York City. When Donald Trump owned the pageant, the winner was given the use of a Trump Place apartment in New York City during her reign, which she shared with the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA titleholders.[19] If the winner, for any reason, cannot fulfill her duties as Miss Universe, the 1st runner-up takes over.

Aside from the main winner and her runners-up, special awards are also given to the winners of the best National Costume, Miss Photogenic, and Miss Congeniality. The Miss Congeniality award is chosen by the delegates themselves. In recent years, Miss Photogenic has been chosen by popular internet vote (the winner used to be chosen by media personnel covering the event).

The competition for the Miss Universe title has seen many changes, although there have been several constants throughout its history. All the contestants compete in a preliminary round of judging (nowadays called the "Preliminary Competition") where the field is narrowed to a select number of semifinalists. This number has fluctuated over the years. The first Miss Universe pageant had ten semifinalists. For the next two years, the number of semifinalists grew to 16. In 1955, the number dropped to a stable 15, which remained through 1970. In 1971, the number was reduced to 12. That number was further reduced to 10 in 1984. This lasted until 2003, when the number of 15 was reinstated. In 2006, there were 20 semifinalists, the highest number ever. In 2007, the organization announced the Top 15 system would be back, which was also used in 2008 until 2010. In 2011, the results of a fan vote was shown on the screen during the swimsuit and evening gown competitions, but this did not affect the final outcome of the competition. From 2011 to 2013, there were 16 semifinalists, 15 chosen by judges and one chosen through Internet votes. The 16th semifinalist by fan vote has been dropped as of 2015, and the number has been reverted to 15 semifinalists. And in 2016 edition there were 13 semifinalists, 12 chosen by judges panel from the quarantine to the preliminary night and one chosen by Twitter and Vodi app. In the 2017 edition, the semifinalists were reverted to 16 delegates divided into 4 different groups each hailing from a different region in the world, Africa & Asia-Pacific, Europe, The Americas & the Wildcard (anywhere).

In the early years, the contestants were judged in swimsuit and evening gown only. In later years, the contestants also competed in a preliminary interview round in a one-on-one meeting with each individual judge.

The crown of Miss Universe has changed nine times over the course of its 65-year history.[20] The first crown, the Romanov Imperial nuptial crown, was previously owned by the now-defunct Russian monarchy. It was used by Armi Kuusela in 1952.[20]

Romanov Diadem / Metal Bronze Crown (1953) — When Christiane Martel of France became Miss Universe 1953, the nuptial crown was replaced by a metallic bronze crown. She was the only Miss Universe titleholder to wear this crown.[20]

The Star of the Universe (1954–60) — From 1954 to 1960, this crown was used. It was named as such due to the star shape at the top of the crown. It is made up of approximately 1,000 Oriental cultured and black pearls set in solid gold and platinum and only weighed 1.25 pounds. It was insured for $500,000 USD.[20]

Rhinestone Crown / Coventry Crown (1961–2001) — This crown was purely made from rhinestones, debuting in 1961 as part of the 10th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant. Only the Marlene Schmidt and Norma Nolan Miss Universes wore this crown.[20] In 1963, renowned jeweler Sarah Coventry reinvented the rhinestone crown which featured a female figure (holding a scepter) as its main centerpiece. The cheaper cost of its rhinestone design made it possible to create exact replicas of the crown to be given to outgoing titleholders. The design was slightly modified in 1973 for the wearer's convenience. This crown was dubbed as The Lady Crown and was used until 2001 wherein the Mikimoto Pearl company accepted the offer to sponsor a commemorative crown for the Miss Universe Organization.[20]

Mikimoto Crown (2002–07; 2017–present) — used from 2002–2007 for the 50th commemorative anniversary of the Miss Universe organization was designed by Tomohiro Yamaji for the Mikimoto Company, the official jewel sponsor of the Miss Universe Organization. The crown depicted the phoenix rising, signifying status, power and beauty, as stipulated in their sponsorship deal. The crown has 500 natural colorless diamonds of almost 30 carats (6.0 g), 120 South Sea and Akoya pearls, ranging in size from 3 to 18 mm diameter and is valued at $250,000 USD.[20] The crown was designed for the pageant on Mikimoto Pearl Island in Japan with the Mikimoto crown and tiara being first used for Miss Universe 2002, which was unveiled by former proprietor Donald Trump.[21] Among pageant connoisseurs, the Mikimoto crown is reputedly the most sought among beauty title holders. The crown was again used when Iris Mittenaere of France crowned Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa as Miss Universe 2017.

CAO Crown (2008) — In 2008, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela was crowned with a tiara designed by a tandem of Rosalina Lydster and Dang Kim Lien of CAO Fine Jewelry. The crown valued at $120,000 USD, was made of 18K karat combination of white and yellow gold and composed of over 1,000 precious stones; including 555 white diamonds (30 carats), 375 cognac diamonds (14 carats), 10 smoky quartz crystals (20 carats) and 19 morganite gemstones (60 carats). The yellow lustre of the gold represents the prosperous thriving economy in Vietnam as symbolized by a Vietnamese Crane heron. However, Mendoza declined to use this crown and thus insisted on the Mikimoto crown when she crowned Stefanía Fernández as her successor.

Nexus Crown (2009–13) — From 2009–2013, Diamond Nexus Labs made the Miss Universe crown. The crown is set with 1,371 gemstones, weighing a total of 416.09 carats (83.218 g). It contains 544.31 grams of 14k and 18k white gold as well as platinum.[citation needed] The crown features synthetic rubies to represent Miss Universe's HIV/AIDS education and awareness platform. Diamond Nexus Labs is the first ever eco-friendly Official Jeweler of Miss Universe and was selected as part of NBC Universal's "Green is Universal" initiative.[22][23]

DIC Crown (2014–16) — From 2014–2016, Paulina Vega, Pia Wurtzbach, and Iris Mittenaere were decorated with the DIC Crown, estimated to be worth $300,000 USD and produced by Czech company Diamonds International Corporation (DIC).[24][25] The whole production process took approximately four months and required the work of ten artisans. The crown is reminiscent of the Manhattan Skyline and composes of 311 diamonds, 5 pieces of blue topaz, 198 pieces of blue sapphire, 33 pieces of heat—fired crystals, and 220 grams of 18k karat white gold. The grand total weight of the crown is 411 grams. Accordingly, this crown was retired in 2017 due to a copyright infringement and subsequent payment issues between the Diamond International Corps and the Miss Universe Organization, thereby reverting back to the Nexus crown during the reign of Iris Mittenaere of France.[26].

The Miss Universe Organization is the organization that currently owns and runs the Miss Universe, Miss USA[27] and Miss Teen USAbeauty contests. Based in New York, the organization is owned by WME/IMG. The current president is Paula Shugart. The organization sells television rights to the pageants in other countries.

a In 2002, Fedorova was dethroned by the Miss Universe Organization and replaced by Pasek, the first runner-up.b In 1957, Gage was stripped of her Miss USA title when it was revealed that she was married and the mother of two children. Sheffield, the first runner-up, replaced her.

The Miss Universe brand has been licensed for use in various products, including Farouk Systems' line of hair care products named Miss Universe Style Illuminate by CHI.[28]

Electronic Arts was reportedly developing a video game based on the pageant, but development status is currently uncertain due to the closure of EA Black Box, the studio allegedly developing the game.[29] A slot machine mobile game, Miss Universe: Crowning Moment, was released by High 5 Casino for iOS and Android devices in 2013.[30]

An official mobile companion app of the Miss Universe Organization was released in May 2016.[31]

^"Miss Venezuela Parades Online". PR Newswire. September 18, 2002. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2010. The Miss Venezuela broadcast, which on average captures a whopping 74% of the Venezuelan television market share for Venevision, will also be available to users on demand.